300 mile Great Texas Catamaran Race starts Wednesday

The Great Texas Catamaran Race, one of the premier long distance beach cat races in the country, will commence it 12th year on June 11 when eight teams (7 F18s and 1 Nacra 20) start the 300 mile race in the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast. Four stages will take competitors from South Padre to Galveston. The race is restricted to production beach catamarans (spinnaker required) between 16-22 feet in length with a maximum 12’ foot beam (no wings allowed). A maximum Portsmouth number of 69.0 is allowed.

The 2014 Great Texas in a Nutshell – by Steve Piche
The 12th running of the Great Texas is ready to start on Wednesday, June 11.

Eight teams have early registered for the race including former winning skippers John Tomko (7 times), Mike Rohrer and Chris Green.

The event will start with a kick-off party and skippers meeting in South Padre on Tuesday evening.

The racing starts at 10 am on Wednesday, June 11th in front of Clayton’s in South Padre. We will race to Mustang Island State Park. Expect sailors to arrive between 5-7 pm after a 100 mile leg. Andrew Tatton and Stephanie May will be serving BBQ on the beach.

We are off once again at 10 am on Thursday, June 12th at 10 am headed to Matagorda Beach near the outlet of the Colorado. Expected the sailors to hit the beach between 4-6 after another 100 mile leg. A gumbo cook-off will be held on the beach pitting local Matagorda cooks against some of the sailors turned chefs.

Again, the racing starts at 10 am on Friday with the sailors heading 70 miles over to Surfside. The Texas City Dike Yacht Club will have a spaghetti dinner for the everyone at Collin Casey’s beach house that evening.

On Saturday, June 14th, another set of sailors (the dashers) will join the Great Texas sailors for the last leg. The dashers will start at 9 am and the Great Texas sailors will follow them with a start at 10 am. The destination is East Beach in Galveston about 50 miles from Surfside.

Awards for the dashers will be given on the beach in Galveston. We will also be serving hot dogs and snacks for the hungry sailors. The formal awards ceremony for the Great Texas will be at Cat Alley at Jamaica Beach in west Galveston. A shrimp dinner will be served and then awards will be handed out. Our events are all open to the public so come join us for the 12th running of the Great Texas.

The Great Texas Catamaran Race
June 11-14, South Padre to Galveston (300 miles)
Wed, June 11, South Padre Island to Mustang Island (100 miles)
Thurs, June 12, Mustang Island State Park to Matagorda (100 miles)
Friday, June 13, Matagorda to Surfside (60 miles)
Sat, June 14, Surfside to East Beach in Galveston (40 miles)

Event website: www.gt300.com